In a recent Gamespot interview with Tetsuya Takahashi, Monolith Software's
vice president and director of Xenosaga, and Yoshidumi Makoto, assistant manager
for Namco's CS department, some exciting new info emerged. Most importantly to North American
gamers, Makoto revealed that Xenosaga's localization is set to begin after the Japanese version
is completed.

Some gameplay details were also revealed. Regarding the battle system, the points players earn
for winning battles will depend on the strategies employed. For example, achieving special attacks
and critical hits may yield a greater amount of points, which can be used to customize characters.
The game will also feature two or three minigames.

Additionally, Takahashi said that Xenosaga's dungeons are less linear than most RPGs, allowing
for more exploration. Dungeon fields will have set camera angles as opposed to the rotation feature
implemented in Xenogears.

Xenosaga will be compatible with the PS2's hard disk drive to speed load times and will take
around 40 minutes to install. Monolith has considered the use of Dolby surround sound but has not committed
to the idea. According to Takahashi, Dolby surround would probably require a four DVD release (as opposed to two) as well as hard disk
installation.

Xenosaga is projected for a February 2002 release in Japan. With a far-off but now certain
North American release on the horizon, RPGamer will continue its ongoing coverage of what may be one
of the most popular titles of 2002.